Your car wreck claim in Baytown, worked by our Houston attorneys

A car wreck claim in Baytown follows the same Texas rules as one in Houston, and our Houston office handles Baytown claims every step of the way. Here is what the claim involves and what to do first.

We are LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, and we do not have an office or an attorney in Baytown. Baytown and Pasadena are both served from our Houston office at 5300 Memorial Dr Ste 810. The attorney who answers for this site is Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization; his primary practice location is our Houston office.

The first days after a Baytown wreck

What you do in the first few days shapes the whole claim. Texas law expects a driver in an injury crash to stop, check on everyone and stay to give information (Transportation Code section 550.021), and to hand over a name, address, registration number and the liability insurer’s name (section 550.023). Beyond what the law requires, a few habits protect the claim:

• Take pictures of both vehicles, the road, any skid marks and your injuries while they are still visible.
• Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the wreck, since witnesses are hard to find later.
• See a doctor promptly and keep a simple notebook of pain, missed work and appointments.
• Give the other driver’s insurer only basic facts until a lawyer has looked at the claim.

Getting the Baytown crash report

A wreck with an injury, a death or a car that cannot be driven has to be reported to the local police or sheriff at once (section 550.026). When an officer investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent damage of $1,000 or more, the officer files a CR-3 report with TxDOT within 10 days (section 550.062). People involved, their representatives and the insurers can buy the full report through TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System for a small fee. Once you hire us, ordering and reading it is our job.

When a truck is part of the wreck

If a commercial truck hit you, the claim brings in more than a car policy. Texas follows the federal safety rules for commercial vehicles (Transportation Code section 644.051). Under 49 CFR 395.3, a property-carrying driver may drive at most 11 hours, may not drive after the 14th hour on duty and needs 10 hours off duty before driving again. Electronic logging devices record duty status, and carriers have to keep those records for at least 6 months (49 CFR 395.8). That short window is why we send a letter asking the carrier to preserve its records early in a truck claim.

The Texas rules behind a Baytown claim

Three rules decide much of what happens once the adjuster opens a file.

• Fault: you can recover if you are 50 percent or less at fault, and your recovery is reduced by your share (Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 33.001 and 33.012). A defendant can also try to name a responsible third party (section 33.004), which is one way insurers spread the blame.
• Coverage: Texas requires liability coverage of at least $30,000 per person, $60,000 per crash for injuries and $25,000 for property damage (Transportation Code section 601.072). PIP and uninsured motorist coverage are in every Texas policy unless a named insured rejected them in writing (Insurance Code sections 1952.152 and 1952.101).
• Time: a personal injury suit generally must be filed within two years (section 16.003), and a claim against a government unit needs written notice within six months (section 101.101).

A Baytown claim is worked to the same Texas rules, by the same Houston team, as any Houston claim.

What our Houston attorneys bring to a Baytown file

Our firm was founded by Michael Uvalle after he worked for several of the largest insurance companies in Texas, and five of our seven attorneys came from that side of the business. In Houston, Jonathan Harris spent more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major auto insurer and now leads the firm’s litigation. Ian Nelsen was an adjuster before he was an insurance defense attorney. Howard Hill spent over 20 years with two of the largest auto and commercial insurers. We use what we learned there to anticipate how the other side will value and argue a Baytown claim.

For a Baytown client, the claim moves through the seven stages we use on every file: Report, Coverage, Records, Demand, Negotiation, Lawsuit if one is needed, and Release. Our guide on how to file a car accident claim lays them out, and our page for a car accident claim lawyer in Houston describes the work we do at each one.

If a suit is needed, the right court depends on where the wreck happened and who is sued, and we settle that question early. We keep you informed by phone or email, so a Baytown client rarely needs to make the drive to Memorial Drive.

Damage to the car is its own claim: see our article on a property damage claim in Texas.